Celebrate Pride Month, New Orleans Style
June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender culture. And as the unrivalled capital of celebrations, New Orleans has a long and storied history of elevating its LGBT community.
Our longest-running LGBT event is the Fat Monday Luncheon, where two “queens” of NOLA’s queer community have been crowned each year since 1949. The Steamboat Club, the city’s oldest gay social organization, opened its doors shortly afterward in 1953, and 1958 saw the formation of the first gay Mardi Gras krewe, the Krewe of Yuga.
While Pride originated in New York City following the infamous Stonewall Riots, where gay nightclub goers clashed with police in 1969, it has special significance to New Orleans. Throughout the early 1970s, country singer and political activist Anita Bryant campaigned to roll back anti-discrimination laws in several states including Louisiana. Due in no small part to her efforts, Louisiana banned same-sex couples from adopting children in 1977, triggering protests from the LGBT community.
Bryant was the spokeswoman for Florida Orange Juice, so gay bars retaliated with a boycott against screwdrivers and other cocktails containing orange juice.
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Tensions rose when Bryant announced that her first public concert following the legislation she’d helped pass would be held in NOLA’s Armstrong Park in June 1977. A crowd formed in Jackson Square and marched to Armstrong Park, gathering more than 3,000 protestors on the way. This remains one of the city’s largest-ever civil rights demonstrations and sent a loud message that NOLA wouldn’t stand for discrimination against its LGBT residents and visitors.
The following year, another rally formed on the anniversary of the original protest and a June gathering soon became an annual tradition. In 1980, the gathering fused with Pride, which had spread beyond New York City to many cities across the country.
This year’s Pride weekend is June 8th through the 10th, with the main Pride parade on the 9th at 7:30PM. The parade will depart from Elysian Fields, wind through Royal, Frenchmen, Decatur, and Canal Streets, and finally heading down Bourbon Street for its grand finale. Like all NOLA celebrations, the parade will be bright, brash, and tons of fun, with more than 5,000 people turning out each year. See you there!
Written by Chris, a local expert guide for New Orleans Crawling. A historian on the lam from the world of academia, Chris enjoys gardening, hiking, and playing at open mic nights after one too many beers. Want to learn more about New Orleans’ hidden history? Join us on an Irish Channel Pub Crawl!